AJHL Quarter-Final Preview

The AJHL Playoffs are set to kick off on Friday with the quarterfinals.The Grande Prairie Storm and the Camrose Kodiaks swept theirbest-of-three mini-series respectively to earn the right to face thedivision leader in the next round. The Bonnyville Pontiacs were thefirst team to get eliminated. It took them until the last five minutesof the last game in the regular season to score the goal that put theminto the playoffs but once they got their it seemed they had very littlespark left. Having to travel all the way to Grande Prairie from St.Albert – the site of their last game – was a big factor in them losingto the Storm 6-3 in Game One.

The Storm jumped on Bonnyville late in the first but poured it on fromthere. 19-year-old Lane Letendre scored with 42 seconds left in thefirst period. The Storm then broke out to a 3-0 lead. Bonnyville made it3-2 before the Storm scored a few more times to put it away.

In Game Two, Grande Prairie broke out to a 3-0 lead again by the firstminute of the second period. Bonnyville again scored two quick goals toclose the gap, but the Storm scored again in the third period and neverlooked back. It was the second game in a row that all-star TysonLafrance was replaced by 16-year-old Shane Bendera in goal.

Camrose never really let Bow Valley into the series. After the firstperiod in Game One, the Kodiaks had a 2-0 lead while all the Eaglescould muster was five shots at Camrose goaltender Wes Schnieder. Fromthen on, the Kodiaks cruised to a 4-1 victory.

Bow Valley was closer in Wednesday night’s game but it was Camrose thatprevailed in a close game. The teams traded goals all night, but it wasCamrose that scored the last with ten minutes remaining in the thirdperiod.

Now, with the mini-series settled, the real playoffs begin Friday. Hereis a preview of all four series:

SERIES ‘C’ Olds Grizzlys(28-30-4) vs Calgary Royals(39-21-2)

The first game is March 5th in Calgary at Father David Bauer Arena.Rather than the more familiar 2-2-1-1-1 series, the two clubs willalternate home and away each game. This could go to Olds advantage ifthey can steal the first game. It leaves the door wide open for a 2-0series lead.

Royals players to watch: F Ben Knopp is by far the best 16-year-oldforward in the league. He had 82 points and 161 PIM in 55 games. F KrysKolanos was fourth in the league in scoring with 110 points. He isranked 105th by CSB in this year’s draft. G Peter Dobrowolski’sperformance is key to the Royals success.

PREDICTION: The Grizzlys played the Royals very tough this season. Infact, Calgary only beat Olds outright twice in eight games. When itcomes down to crunch time, however, Calgary is flat-out the better teamof the two. Royals in six.

The first game is March 6th in Lloydminster at the Centennial CivicCentre. Like the Olds/Calgary series, this one will also involve theteams alternating home and away each game with Lloydminster having thehome ice advantage. The winner of this series plays the Storm or theSaints.

Fort Saskatchewan players to watch: 20-year-old Matt Gorman is far andaway the leader of this team with 116 points. The next closest is NickDeschenes with 86. The key for Lloydminster is to shut Gorman down. Theperformance of G Nick Boucher, who has assumed the #1 role this year iskey for Fort Sask.

Lloydminster players to watch: Travis Barnes and Mark Hallam are thisclub’s dynamic duo. Finishing the year with 93 and 92 pointsrespectively (Barnes with 53 goals, Hallam with 73 assists), they haveto be on their game if the Blazers hope to advance. The Blazers aregoing to go with young goaltender Ray Fraser. Fraser, an 18-year-oldacquired from Camrose, played limited action with Lloyd (16 games) butsparkled with a 1.87 GAA and was a big part of the reason why theysurged down the stretch.

PREDICTION: There are no two teams more evenly matched than these two.Lloydminster had the edge during the regular season and played wellenough down the stretch in February to be considered an outrightfavourite. However, the series is really a toss-up. Fort Saskatchewan inseven

SERIES ‘E’Camrose Kodiaks(26-33-3) vs Calgary Canucks(50-8-4)

The first game is March 8th at Max Bell Arena in Calgary. The winnerwill play the Olds/Royals winner.

Camrose players to watch: To beat the juggernaut Canucks who finishedwith the best regular season record in AJHL history, Camrose is going tohave to rely on its netminder to stand on his head. The club is probablygoing to rotate between G Anthony Peterson (3.79 GAA) and G WesSchnieder (3.85) and hope that both have what it takes to defeat thisbehemoth. F Riley Riddell is their go-to guy on offence and, consideringthis is his draft year, the diminutive winger may have something to showNHL scouts. Single-handedly defeating the best team in AJHL history isdefinitely an eye-opener.

Canucks players to watch: Without a doubt, all eyes will be on AJHLleading scoring Dany Heatley (126 points), set to join Wisconsin nextyear. Camrose should also watch 100-point man Moe Halat, Ryan Manitowich(87 pts) and Adrian Foster (32 pts in 18 games). Also, Calgary has theleague’s best goaltender in Mike Gilhooly. In 39 games, Gilhooly was31-4-3 with a .902 save percentage and 2.56 GAA.

PREDICTION: There will probably be one or two games that go intoovertime, but this Calgary Canucks team is much too strong to bow out inthe first round. Camrose, who may also be a bit tired from their serieswith Bow Valley, has the capability to give them a bit of a scare, butit won’t be much. Canucks in five.

SERIES ‘F’Grande Prairie Storm(33-22-7) vs St. Albert Saints(43-19-0)

The first game is March 5th at Akinsdale Arena in St. Albert. Season series: Saints 2 at Storm 5; Saints 4 at Storm 1; Storm 3 atSaints 0; Storm 1 at Saints 4; Storm 1 at Saints 6; Saints 5 at Storm 6;Storm 4 at Saints 2; Storm 1 at Saints 3

Grande Prairie players to watch: Blaine Bablitz and his 84 points arefar and away the best on the Storm – the next closest is Shane Mudryk’s62 points. Aside from production from Bablitz the Storm need a balancedattack from Mudryk, Mike Mohr (55 points), Jordan Peter (49), LaneLetendre (46) and Mark Grumetza (41). Also, netminders Dan Morgan andChad Rycroft will have to stand on their head. I think Rycroft will getthe nod in the first two games of the series at least. He was the go-toguy in the previous series with Bonnyville.

St. Albert players to watch: Former Spokane Chief Ron Grimard has had anoutstanding season with 108 points. Behind him is an extremelywell-balanced attack consisting of Pavel Beranek (79 points), RobZiemmer (73 points), former Edmonton Ice Joey Bastien (71), MichaelBuchan (65), Brent Robertson (61) and Darren Peebles (60). The team alsosports an outstanding goaltending duo of Kirby Millar and ScottKabotoff. Kabatoff, who recently signed a letter-of-intent to Wisconsin,will be the go-to guy in the playoffs. Despite the balanced scoringattack, the key to the Saints in the playoffs will be their goaltendingand defence. The team went into a bit of a slide in the last half ofFebruary after defenceman Scott Farrell went down to a hamstring injury.They’re going to need him to recover in time to play effectively inFriday’s game.

PREDICTION: The Grande Prairie Storm were a tough team for the Saints tobeat during the regular season. The two teams split the season series4-4. The deciding factor may just be the fact that the Storm had to playa mini-series prior to the quarter-finals. St. Albert in seven.